EIG -- The fourth annual European I-Gaming Summit kicks of this morning in Nice, France with a keynote address from PartyGaming's Richard Segal. An impressive lineup of industry leaders representing Ladbrokes, Sportech, Betfair, Endemol, Barclay's, Orange, PartyGaming and several other companies will present throughout the three-day affair. Around 700 delegates from businesses all over the world are expected to attend.
Indecent Proposal? -- Deloraine MLC Greg Hall wasn't terribly thrilled with an invitation to be Betfair's guest at this year's Melbourne Cup. Hall and two other Tasmanian Upper House politicians, Jim Wilkinson and Paul Harris all received invitations and all declined. The gesture comes at a time when three "yes" votes from independents to get a bill to regulate betting exchanges passed in Tasmania. "That's not the way to do things," Hall said. "I didn't think it was appropriate at all for that offer to be made at this time by Betfair." Betfair's Australian director of business affairs, Andrew Twaits, said the offer was nothing more than good business. "We invite lots of people to the races; we're a racing-focused business, and people expect us to invite them," Twaits said. . . . On a less controversial note, the company was named "Socially Responsible Operator of the Year" at the inaugural eGaming Review industry awards ceremony held Friday in London. The award was based on the company's stern age and identification verification systems and its efforts to promote responsible gambling within the industry.
Bodog's Next Campaign -- Online gambling operator Bodog.com is launching new ad campaign that categorizes and identifies poker predators (the "Hustler," the "Novice," the "Ringer" and the "Wildcard") as an educational tool for online poker players. The first two TV spots (the "Hustler" and the "Wildcard") will debut today on primetime cable television in the United States. The ads are part of a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign in the United States through TV, radio and magazines.
Phone4Play -- BT agilemedia, a U.K.-based provider of participation media services, has teamed up with interactive gaming software developer Zone4Play Inc. to offer Participation TV Gaming (in which the viewing audience participates in the game or contest) to broadcasters, production companies and TV service providers. TV channels broadcast live or pre-recorded programming giving viewers three options: "play for a prize," "play for fun" or "real bets." Viewers at home play the games (such as dice, keno, roulette, horse racing and car racing) by using the keypad on their home phones or mobile phones.
WSOP Rewards -- The World's Standard of Poker has launched "All In Poker," a new program in which players earn rewards by playing poker and introducing other poker players to the site. Members essentially run their own poker rooms while earning commission on the rake and tournament fees generated by all players that they refer to the site and on the rake and fees of all other players in their down lines (all members who subsequently sign up), which can go up to seven levels and draw a maximum of 97,655 players. The program is free to join.